Not just a pretty face
SANGEETA BAROOAH PISHAROTY
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With more and more news channels, there arises a need for greater thrust in anchor training.
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My anchoring skills have come from radio experience. ZAKKA JACOB
ANCHORS, NOT ANNOUNCERS Newscasters Shireen Bhan (CNBC-TV18).
Here is a question for you. Have you ever watched a news channel because the presenter was engaging enough? Your options don't include a Prannoy Roy, a Barkha Dutt or a Rajdeep Sardesai. Coming with their own set of blunders, the list doesn't contain seasoned Ashutosh, Punya Prasun Bajpayi or Deepak Chaurasia either. It takes account of the brand new anchors you spotted while channel surfing.
Your response is sure to vary. This points at a rising need: the need to train our newscasters. To make them more professional, more engaging. So that the mumblings and the fumbling give way to a more in-control look; so that `natiza' becomes `natija'; `paani ki killat ki problem' seldom happens. So that anchors keep their voice and words in control during breaking news or while handling a miffed guest. And not to forget to add `accused' before names like Moninder Singh Pandher.
Agreed that television in India is young. But not in cradle anymore. The seniors learnt anchoring on job. Today, a handful of newcomers might be promising, but most come across as rank amateurs, unsure of their facts, often ill-equipped to handle an emerging story, and almost always unsure of their pronunciation. This is vital as an anchor is the viewers' first encounter with a channel. And ratings come from the ability to glue in the viewers.
So what blocks a steady inflow of young, credible news anchors? Industry insiders voice a void in professional institutes specialising in anchor training. No TV journalism institute has tailored a course on news anchoring. So what you see on screen is the result of in-house patchwork largely.
Explains Jitendra Ramprakash, a consultant who has trained newscasters in 19 channels across five networks, "Thankfully, a lot has changed in the last five years. We have moved far from the Doordarshan days. The channels are aware that presentation of news is as important as newsgathering. They are more focussed, but training is still not organised. There is no methodology. No journalism school offers any anchor training." Most channels do not do enough of a follow-up job either. "Quality control is inconsistent. They should ideally have a refresher after a workshop but most don't," he rues.
Ramprakash finds anchors confident during workshops, "but they all end up being a clone of each other." A case in point is NDTV where many young anchors try aping Prannoy Roy's personalised style of delivering news.
The paradigm
Vidya Shankar Aiyar (CNN-IBN).
Now, let's see what can land you an anchor's job. Good looks and a passable voice, add to it some in-house training in diction, news sense and body language, at times a workshop conducted by an expert, plus some lessons on personal grooming. The rest is left to the anchor's daily practice of going on air.
Sona Jha, who trains anchors for Aaj Tak, Delhi Aaj Tak, Tez and Headlines Today, gives a wide idea of the industry's hiring parameters. "I don't look for pretty faces but convincing ones with good communication skills and knowledge of many subjects. You could be specialised in sports but in the middle of a sports bulletin, you may have to handle breaking news." Jha, armed with a degree on anchor training from the Virginia University, says she stresses anchors' body language as "even eyes can convey a lot. I teach them to enact everything." Also, she trains both anchors and reporters in forming questions. "We teach them to avoid asking long questions to a guest the answer of which could come as just yes or no."
An impressive standard to start with, but nothing more! Both Jha and Vidya Shankar Aiyar, Senior Editor, Anchor, CNN-IBN, say long hours often prevent anchors from attending in-house training sessions. "We have a conversational style but some don't follow it," Aiyar states. Summing up the fact that house styles in news channels are still not taken so seriously.
In the West
Nidhi Razdan (NDTV 24/7).
The Western television had also undergone the phase but is now more specialised. Institutes like Pozitiv Productions (UK) train anchors for channels like BBC, MTV, Discovery, ITV, ITN, Channel 4, etc. Started by a news anchor Glen Kinsey, more as an one-time attempt to train his anchor friends, Pozitiv now has tailor-made courses to handle breakfast shows, travel-related shows, prime-time news, entertainment news, etc. It even has specialised segments like coaching media spokespeople for companies. What is more, there are firms like Telly Faces in the UK now, which makes show reels for aspiring anchors. BBC, CNN, MTV, UKTV, Sky TV, Channel 4, etc. hire anchors from Telly Faces.
Many Indian news channels hire foreign experts to set up their units and this includes anchor-training too. But most consultants look more at the technical side. Aiyar paints the picture: "We had a set of American consultants and I was told that they will also help in training anchors. But finally, training was left to me." Aiyar received his training at a Singapore-based channel.
Poaching anchors, a common practice by channels, is another factor that points at limited trained faces in the industry. Though because of it, Aiyar could deal with experienced anchors in CNN-IBN. "Still, many things were wrong. When an anchor moves from one story to another, he/she says, `And now moving on... ', which means absolutely nothing. Also, they would say, `Let's go live to xyx.' Have you seen anyone going dead? There is surely room for professional institutes." Aiyar now asks anchors to engage in banter to serve as an interlude between news reports.
Indian accent
Renu Rao, Head of Training, NDTV, says, "We encourage Indian English accent." Often she finds "a problem of `v' and `w' among anchors". As in `have' is pronounced as `haw'. Jha too finds a problem of `j' and `z', as in `jahaz' as `jahaj'; `newz' as `newj'; `taaza' as `taaja'. Many times, the problem shows on screen.
For training channels also send out anchors on reporting assignments. Both Rao and Smita Chakrabarty, Head of Programming, NDTV, feel this helps them to become more hands-on with news.
Ramprakash adds, "Anchors should read a lot, learn languages, and should be able to control a situation without a script." Else, an anchor becomes an announcer.
On a given day, a channel needs up to 12 news anchors. With instant fame attached to anchoring, most youngsters favour it. But with no avenues to train them, many find a foothold on their own. Says Zakka Jacob, anchor, Headlines Today, "My anchoring skills have come from my radio experience." Jacob is an engineering graduate with no formal training in news anchoring.
Recognising the need for more anchors, CNBC-Awaz has started a reality hunt for anchors. The contest, "Khud Par Karo Yakin" will pick 12 anchors from five cities for in-house training. "News savvy, journalistic instinct particularly in business news, and the ability to deal with uncertainty" are some qualities the organisation looks for in anchors, explains Suresh Venkat, Executive Producer, CNBC TV-18.
"So far, we are hiring anchors from institutes like The Asian College of Journalism in Chennai, Symbiosis in Pune, Xaviers Institute in Mumbai, and the Mass Communication Centre in Jamia Millia Islamia, and we are quite happy with the results," he says, adding though, "problems in voice control and body language do exist."
To redress the situation, channels can start with initiatives like a pronunciation cell, says Ramprakash, adding, "ETV is the only network to have it."
Well, is anyone listening?
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